Rebecca Mead: Mrs. Zizmor as an Artist

After she married Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, the subway skin doctor, nine years ago, Alexandra Zizmor earned a certain degree of celebrity, thanks to an advertisement her husband placed, as is his custom, in the subway, which featured her image along with his. In a Talk story that chronicled their courtship and explained the advertisement’s genesis, Mrs Zizmor explained that was suddenly being recognized by all kind of folks, including the delicatessen guy at Fine and Shapiro.

Next week, however, Mrs. Zizmor will be celebrated in her own right, as an artist: her début show opens at the Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. Entitled “Shana: My Muse,” the show features mixed-media images of Shana, Mrs. Zizmor’s Great Dane, engaged in various activities, such as carrying a bag from Bergdorf Goodman and lighting Hannukah candles. (One image, showing Shana alongside a single weeping eye, is titled, “I Cried Because I Had No Milk-bones, Then I Met a Dog Who Had No Food.”) According to Mrs. Zizmor, “These whimsical images with sassy titles are not only intended to strike the funny bone of the viewer but also suggest the need to personify these furry companions in an increasingly alienated society.” Opens October 13 through January 10.